Underwaist.



rrnp STATES Patented May 5, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

UNDERWAIST.

SPEGIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 727,367, dated May 5, 1903.

Application filed March 20, 1903.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD HENRY HOR- WOOD, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Hoboken,-in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and Improved Childs Underwaist, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The purpose of my invention is to provide a construction of childrens undergarments in which gathers, plaits, or shirrings are employed and in which a yoke is so combined with the body as to take all the strain from the gathered-in fullness, thus preventing the gathers, plaits, or shirrings from being drawn or wrenched from position at their edges, which frequently happens under the ordinary construction, wherein the strain is directly sustained by the gathered edge of the fabric at the upper portion of the garment.

Another purpose of the invention is to provide the yoke with integral shoulder-straps and the body with stays at the top and bottom of the gathered material, the upper stay serving to reinforce both the yoke and the body.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both figures.

Figure 1 is a plan View of the improved underwaist laid flat, and Fig. 2 is a transverse section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

A represents the body of the garment, and B the yoke thereof, attached to the body by means of lines of stitching or by equivalent means. At one end of the bodyareinforced flap 10 is formed, which flap is continued to the upper portion of the yoke, and at the opposite end of the body a corresponding flap 11 is formed, which is likewise continued to the upper portion of the yoke. The flap 10 is-provided with buttonholes 12 and the flap 11 with buttons 13, adapted to be received by the aforesaid buttonholes 12.

The lower portion of the body of the garment is reinforced by longitudinal strips l-l, placed at suitable intervals apart, and be- Serial No. 148,679. (No model.)

tween these strips the usual buttons 15 are attached by tapes or their equivalents. Eyeleted hangers 16 are likewise attached to the bottom portion of the body at the back section thereof, as the said body is practically in three sectionsa back section a and two side sections a and 0. These sections are connected by double seams 17, although they may be connected in anyother approved manner, if desired.

The back and the side sections of the body A are provided with gathers 18, taking up the fullness of the material at the top and bottom edges, which fullness extends from the uppermost bottom reinforcing-strip 14 to the upper reinforcing-strip 19, which is attached not only to the body A, but also to the yoke B, as is clearly shown in Fig. 1.

It will be understood that the fullness of the sections of the body may be taken up in any desired manner-as, for example, by plaits or by shirring-and that the end portions of the plaits, shirrings, or gathers are held firmly in position by the reinforcingstrips, which reinforcing-strips, as has been stated, are secured one to the body material and the other partially to the body and to the yoke, so that all of the strain will be upon the yoke instead of being sustained by the shirrings, gathers, or plaits confined within a simple binding.

It will be observed from the construction shown that the plaits or gathers terminate at that point where the yoke connects with the body of the garment at the reinforcingstrip, where all the edges are straight, and that the yoke is perfectly plain, being only reinforced bya binding at the top. The yoke being plain will adapt itself perfectly to the neck of the wearer and will sustain all of the strain, whereas when the plaits or gathers are carried straight up to the neck-line or binding of the garment, as is customary, the gathered edge will be more or less curved or bias, and under wear the tendency of the gathers, whether the edge be straight or bias, will be to work out of place, as experience has shown.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. Achilds underwaist,consistingofabodysection and a yoke-section, the body-section being provided with gathers extending transversely thereof from a point near the body to the junction of the yoke with the body, and reinforcing-strips located one at the bottom portion of the said gathers and the other at the upper portion of the gathers, the upper reinforcing-strip being partially attached to the body and partially to the yoke, as described, whereby the yoke-sustains the burden of strain and the gathers are relieved from undue tension under wear, as set forth.

2. Achildsunderwaist,eonsistingofabodysection, a yoke-section having integral shoulder-straps, reinforced end flap-sections, one end flap-section being provided with buttonholes and the other with buttons arranged to pass through the holes, the said body being divided into a rear portion and side portions,

the side and rear portions having plaits or gathers formed therein, extending in direction of the bottom to the top, commencing at a point near the lower portion of the body and terminating where the body is connected with the yoke, a reinforcing-strip arranged longitudinally of the said body at the bottom of the said plaits, and reinforcing-strips par 

